AURA

is a 2D exploration-based music game. You are the pilot of a lone ship, capable of absorbing the power generated by your mothership's aura. You are your people's last hope, and you must get your people to your home planet by collecting fuel contained in nodes that have been placed in an alien land. These nodes are protected by a hive-mind AI that will stop at nothing to keep their resources safe. Collecting the fuel allows the mothership one chance to jump through hyperspace, bringing your people closer to home.

The nodes' behavior is informed by the music being played. As the fuel is gathered, the music being played becomes denser and more complex, culminating in a final encounter with the AI. The music and the game have been designed hand-in-hand to deliver a synchronized audiovisual experience.

THE TEAM

AURA is being developed as the year-long project for the Games and Playable Media Master's program at UC Santa Cruz.

Patrick Trinh

is a game designer, audio designer and musician for AURA. He graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in Cognitive Science in 2012, and has made numerous games during and after his undergraduate study. He has also made music under the name Space Town (formerly Space Town Savior) for several years.

lun cao

is a programmer and designer for AURA from Xi’an, China. After earning a bachelor’s degree for software engineering in his hometown at Xidian University, he gave up a job opportunity at STATE GRID Corporation of China to move to California and study game design.

Facebook: /auragameucsc

Twitter: @auragameucsc

Any questions, concerns and comments regarding AURA can be directed to auragame@gmail.com.